An Introduction To The Philosophy Of Social Research by M. Williams (Social Research Today)

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Synopsis

This is an accessible introduction to the philosophy of social research which relates philosophical ideas to actual research practice. The book makes effective use of illustrations from the UK, US and Europe to examine specific problems and broader issues. The book is intended for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in social research methods within sociology, social policy, politics, social psychology, human geography; philosophy of social science and social theory courses; and as a personal reference for professional researchers.

Malcolm Williams is an adjunct professor in the School of Translation and Interpretation at the University of Ottawa.
Tim obtained degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science (1985) and the Universities of Surrey (1986) and Plymouth (1990). This followed a first career as an engineer in the agricultural sector and then an evening return-to-study course, during which time he worked in the retail sector. After his degrees, Tim was employed at the Universities of Plymouth and Durham before moving to Salford in September 1999. Tim s interests centre upon the relationship between knowledge, strategy, context and practice. He has developed these in a variety of fields and settings including the following: universities; local government; regional and city innovation and knowledge partnerships; international and national research council funded programmes; Whitehall and regional agencies; health, probation, prison and social services and urban and regional policy in general. He has taken this work to examine how it relates to knowledge generation and reception, sustainability, policy formulation and implementation and organizational actions and outcomes at different levels: from the local, to city, regional, national and international scales. The roles of management, culture, communication and coordination and intelligence, as well as developing more holistic views on city-regional development, feature in his work for SURF, along with concerns over the future of the university, active intermediation and urban arenas in knowledge exchange and the production and reception of different forms of knowledge. He is currently seconded half-time to the Mistra Urban Futures Centre, based in Gothenburg, Sweden and working on an EPSRC funded Retrofit programme with partners in Cardiff, Oxford and Cambridge. Mistra entails a lead role in developing and producing international comparative work, as well as the development of the scientific programme for the Centre. In addition to his managerial, research and policy activities, Tim has given numerous talks nationally and internationally, as well having served on selection committees and commissioning bodies. He has written and edited fourteen books that, to date, have been translated into fourteen languages. The topics of his writings include: urban policy; universities and regional development; science policy; innovation; knowledge and sustainability; management and organizational change; politics and regional representation; social theory; research methodology and methods; thinking sociologically and philosophy of science and social science. Tim is the series editor of Issues in Society an international book series with Open University Press/McGraw-Hill in which 17 books have been published. Among his current publications are a book on Social Research and Reflexivity (with Beth Perry, Sage Publications, 2011); a 4th edition of Social Research: Issues, Methods and Process (Open University Press/McGraw-Hill, 2011) and a co-edited special edition of the Built Environment journal, with Beth Perry, on The Roles of Universities in Building Knowledge Cities .